What I Had, What I Wanted
by Severus Snape Admirer
Summary: Follow the story of Selena Snape, the daughter of the feared Potion Master. Finally, fed up with her overprotective parents, she longs for an adventure. She gets her wish when she gets transported to Middle-earth by a portkey. Set during the Ring quest. Can she find the adventure she's looking for? Can you ever get back? Who might change her mind? For more information pm me. HP AU
1. Prologue

It was a hot September day as a young girl with long black hair got ready for another year at the pristine school of Hogwarts. She sighed as she remembered the day she got her acceptance letter and now it seemed a distant memory. As much as she enjoyed casting spells or making potions, the thrill had long since gone. Unknown to her parents, the young girl dreamed of something more. She wanted sword-fighting and quests, high elves and mythical creatures, something more than just her ordinary life. Just then, a knock came on her bedroom door and without looking at it she wandlessly opened the door. She didn't need to see who was in her door way to know it was her father checking in on her.

"Selena, your mother and I want to speak to you before you go." replied her father in his usual snarky, sarcastic way.

"Don't you always, sir?" answered Selena, rolling her eyes and grabbing her packed bag before turning to face what would soon become her professor.

"Don't be smart with me, Miss Snape. I may be your father but, I still demand some respect." snapped her father, dressed in his usual black teaching robes.

"Yes, sir." muttered Selena as she followed the black robes out of her room and down the stairs towards the kitchen. As usual her mother was cooking breakfast and singing a muggle melody as she went.

"Morning, Selena. Your breakfast will be ready shortly, so while we wait, I thought we go over some things." informed the girl's mother. While her mother had red hair and emerald green eyes, the young teen had black hair and a sort of royal blue colored pair of eyes. She was also taller than her mother, but still contained her mother's loving, forgiving side.

"Sure, mum." smiled Selena, setting her bag down and taking a seat at the table as her father came sweeping into the room looking as moody as ever.

"Your father and I were thinking that since this is your second last year of Hogwarts and your 17, you might like spend the holidays at the house with a few of your friends." suggested the older witch, glancing at her husband who was reading the Daily Prophet.

"What do you mean?" asked Selena, curiously.

"We feel we've been putting too much pressure and think you'd benefit some time with your friends. Therefore, your father and I will be going to a Potion Convention in Canada and will be spending the holidays there. We'll still have Christmas with you, but we'll be leaving the next day." said her mother, placing a plate of eggs and bacon on her plate.

"Seriously?" asked Selena, excitedly as she looked between her mother and father who hadn't taken his eyes off the newspaper.

"Just as long as your grades don't slip and you behave yourself. You know how I feel about your grades." muttered the Potion Master, sternly, folding the newspaper up and turning to look at his daughter. "If I hear from one of your other teachers that your misbehaving you can forget about the trip. And stay away from the Potter brat. I mean it."

"But why?" snapped Selena irritably, showing over her father's temper. "Harry's not that bad a guy if you'd only give him a chance."

"I'm your father and that brat is on his way to getting himself killed. I won't have you follow in his footsteps." argued the stern, professor giving her his trade-mark glare.

"But, father I'm seventeen now. I can take care of myself. I've helped Harry take down a basilisk and Dementors. I even helped him the Ministry of Magic, so wh-" retorted the young adult only to be cut off by her father as he stood him angrily, knocking over his chair.

"YOU WERE AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC!" exclaimed Severus as he strode over to his daughter so he was standing in front of her.

"Yes, and it was the best fun I've had since I've been at Hogwarts. Something you'd never understand because you just sit in your office and complain about students."

"**Miss. Snape**," replied Professor Snape, darkly. "Go to your room now."

Selana stared at her father before turning to her mother who had tears in her eyes.

"Selena," started her mother, putting her hand on her husband's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "I knew his parents well and even though I think your father's still holding too much of a pity grudge. He's right about you being in danger and I'm disappointed in you. You could have been hurt. What's worse is you could have been seen by some of your father's _past_ colleagues. Please, just go to your room."

Selena nodded dejectedly and began eating her plate of food, which had gone cold during her argument with her father. There was no use arguing with her father on that subject any more than she had already. After eating half of her cold breakfast she excused herself and headed back upstairs. It wasn't fair that her father continued to overprotect her. It was never about the 'boy wonder' himself. It was that he was allowed to go on exciting adventures, fighting evil creatures and people. If her mother hadn't pushed to let her go to Hogwarts, she wouldn't have gone. Her father never let her have any adventure, something which she loved reading in her books. She swiped at a tear that had fallen and pulled open one of her favourite books, '_The Lord of The Rings'_. She had just opened the book to the first chapter when she felt her body get squeezed through a tube. She screamed and then all was dark as she passed out. When she opened her eyes, she almost screamed again when she saw a hideous creature looking at her. After reading LOTR for the 6th time, she didn't need it to see that she was in trouble. Standing in front of her was a big, greasy, ugly looking orc.


	2. Of Elves, Wizards, and Stalkers

Selena screamed and scrambled to get away only to find she was backing up into another one whom seemed just as hungry as the first one.

"Well, what do we have here?" asked one of orcs as he grabbed the girl by her arm to examine her closely. "Well, what do you know? We got us a girl and a pretty one at that."

"Hey, get your stinky, filthy paws off me." snapped Selena as she tried to pull her arm out of the orc's powerful grip.

"She's a fighter, this one. Should we bring her to Saruman?" asked the second orc as he looked the young witch up and down. "Or should we just eat her?"

The orc holding Selena growled at the younger one and threw a short dagger at him. "You idiot, of course we're going to eat her. I don't care what that stupid wizard wants. He's not the boss of me."

"Alright, I'm sorry." snapped the submissive orc as he rubbed his head where the dagger had hit him.

Lily looked between the two orcs as she thought about the strange predicament she was in. Not moments ago, she had been arguing with her father and now she was with a bunch of orcs. To make matters worse, they were trying to decide if they should spare her life or not. 'Wait, did they say Saruman? But that would mean, I'm in my story. I'm in Middle-Earth.' said Selena to herself. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the thunder of hooves headed her direction. The orcs were too busy bickering over what to do with their capture that they didn't hear the horses until it was too late.

Out of nowhere, four riders in armour came charging out the forest with their pure white horses and started to attack the pair of orcs. After being thrown to the ground, Selena crawled away and tried to look for her wand. As the riders drove off the two orcs, Selena finally found her wand and quickly grabbed it just as one of them dismounted and walked towards her.

"What are you doing in elven territory?" asked the figure, which upon closer inspection was a tall elf with long brown hair and was wearing a small silver crown. "More importantly, why are their orcs roaming so close to our homeland?"

Selena looked up at the face of the elf, which she recognized right away as Lord Elrond, the chief of the Elves. She tried to recall more about him, but everything else about him seemed to have left her memory. 'Why can I remember anything about you? You are more than just the chief of the elves, but I can't remember. Oh, no. I forgetting the pages of the book. That's just great. I can only recall places and names. This is just not my day,' thought Selena.

"Well?" insisted the elf lord, eyeing the young witch critically.

"Oh, my name is Selena Salazar Snape. I'm sorry sir, I lost my way," stumbled Selena, searching for an appropriate answer.

"Interesting, well seeing as you appear to by yourself and of no threat to us. Why don't you come with us?" suggested Lord Elrond, gesturing for one of his men to loan the girl their horse. One elf did and lead his horse over to her.

"Thank you. Lord Elrond is it?" asked Selena, receiving a nod from the elf in front of her.

"Yes, dear girl. Now can you ride?" returned Elrond, taking the reins of the horse from its owner and throwing them over the horse's head.

"Yes, Lord Elrond," replied Selena walking towards the horse and slowly lifted herself into the saddle with a little help from the elf.

Satisfied that the girl was alright, he motioned for his men to turn back and head for Rivendell. He too turned his horse and set off for the short journey home, every once in a while taking a glance at the young girl. She was young to be out by herself, more importantly at times like this when orcs were loose.

"So why is it, that a girl, such as you're self, is wandering the woods alone?" questioned Lord Elrond, bringing his horse close to Selena's.

Selena looked at Lord Elrond and smiled, "I didn't have much of a choice. Besides, I'm a much tougher girl than you give me credit."

"Is that so? Well, we shall have to see about that," challenged Elrond, as he picked up the pace, encouraging his other captain and other man to hurry as well.

After another few hours of intense riding, Lord Elrond and company finally made it to Rivendell. They had just arrived when one of his men came running up to him.

"My Lord, your daughter has returned with a the 'ring-bearer' who is gravely ill," informed the elf, eying the young girl who was dismounting the horse.

"Then I shall go to him, immediately," he turned to the elf as he dismounted his own steed. "See that the young girl has a change of clothes and is welcomed. Captain, send some of your men and horses into the forest. Strider and some more hobbits are probably on their way here." The two elves bowed and went their respectful ways.

"I must go and take care of some business. Allow Caeltae, to get you seated in a room and feel free to ask anything of him," said Elrond as he looked at Selena before hurrying away.

"Well, what would you like to do?" asked Caeltae, gazing at the young girl.

She was about to respond when an old man in grey robes and carrying a staff walked over to the pair. Thinking through her foggy mind, her mind supplied her with the name Gandalf, the grey, a wizard of sorts but nothing like the old headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. She frowned when she could not remember anything more.

"Good evening, child," greeted Gandalf, studying the girl with a critical eye. 'So this must be the girl in the prophecy."

"Master, Gandalf," bowed Caeltae when the wizard looked in his direction. Between Lord Elrond and Princess Arwen most elfs were taught to regard the wizard as something of an equal.

"Yes, yes I know!" snapped Gandalf. "I'm not your master. I am a friend of your Lord Elrond and that is it."

"Sorry, m-Gandalf!" stumbled Caeltae looking fearfully at the tall, grey wizard with some fear.

"Never mind that, I need to have a word with this girl," ordered Gandalf pointing to Selena as if she wasn't there.

Caeltae nodded and simply chose to lead the four horses back to the stables to give them some grooming and feed. When Caeltae was out of earshot, Gandalf motioned for Selena to follow him and lead her to a small space that appeared to be a study. Closing and locking the door, he turned back to the girl.

"So you are wizard, child?" asked tall, lean wizard.

"We prefer the term, witch where I'm from. How did you know?" questioned Selena, furrowing her brows as she tried to figure out.

The old man looked at her, before falling into a chair and started laughing, clutching his side. "My dear, when you get to be my age, you have a certain sixth sense for knowing that kind of stuff. That and you're not exactly dressed to match this world, so I assume you're not from around here."

"That is correct, sir. I come from; I guess you could say an alternate universe. Only I don't know how to get back home," answered Selena, pulling out her wand and transfiguring her clothes to look more like a common villager.

Gandalf looked her and shook his head, "Never thought I'd live to see the day when women could use magic. As to your question about getting home, I am not sure but I can certainly look into finding a way back."

Selena nodded her head in appreciation, "Thank-you so much, Gandalf."

The elderly wizard nodded his head and then his face turned serious. "I want to be clear that while you are here, you do not use any magic unless in a dire situation. People barely tolerate me and I live here."

Selena sighed heavily and nodded, "Fair enough."

"Excellent. Now I'm assuming you've never used a sword or bow where you're from?" inquired Gandalf. When the young, black-haired, girl shook her head his brows furrowed in puzzlement. "Don't your mentors teach you anything? Magic doesn't fix all your problems. Utterly useless. I'll have to send him a letter. You're completely defenseless if you rely too heavily on your magic."

Selena giggled at the thought of her handing the letter to her father or the headmaster, "We, ah learn about potions and the history of magic."

Gandalf paled and started ranting again, "Well that's all very good, but you can't learn everything from past events. Look at us. Oh, I'm definitely talking to your supervisors. This is completely unacceptable. Now potions are a fine art to be sure, but hardly practical in most situations. Your mentors sound terrible."

Selena tried to suppress the giggles that kept coming to her mouth, but she was having a difficult time while the wizard continued to rant about Hogwarts lack of teaching.

"Well, I'll just have to rectify that. In a few minutes, you'll learn from both a master swordsmen and bowmen. Two of the most impressive, men I've ever laid eyes on," insisted Gandalf as he continued to mutter off about poor education.

Selena blinked at the man several times before shaking her head, "Oh, no. I am not learning how to use a sword. I have poor hand-coordination. Ask any of my fri-oh well if you asked of my friends they'd tell I was telling the truth."

Gandalf looked at her with something akin to a twinkle in his eyes, reminding her of the Headmaster at Hogwarts. It usually meant he got his way and she groaned inwardly at the thought off using a sword.

'You will learn to use a sword if it's the last thing I do,' muttered Gandalf just as Lord Elrond appeared in the doorway.

"I've done all I could for him. He's got a strong heart so he should heal well. Come, you'll probably want to be there when he wakes. I'll show you to his room," offered Elrond, cracking a smile towards Selena who blushed back.

"Ah, yes thank-you Lord Elrond," returned Gandalf striding over to him. "I'm sure though, that I can find my way."

"Very, well have it your way," retorted Elrond nodding at Gandalf as he left to find Frodo and set his eyes once more on the young girl. "Well, you certainly look quite mess now that I've had a proper look of you. Didn't Caeltae bring you fresh clothes."

"I was speaking to Gandalf, sir," countered Selena.

"Oh that meddling, old, man. Thinks he can just order everyone one around," started the high elf, earning some giggles from the young girl. "You must be starving. Come there is to be a big feast to greet our weary travellers such as yourself."

"You are most gracious, sir," conceited Selena only to be stopped by Lord Elrond.

"Please, call me Elrond. A friend of Gandalf is a friend of mine," insisted the elf.

"Very well, Elrond, You are too kind," said Selena, following the high elf toward the banquet hall.

As they entered the banquet hall, Selena could easily recognize more faces that had come up from her foggy memories. She sat Merry and Pippin twi- no cousins, she corrected looking at the two hobbits. Across from them, sat Frodo and Sam, while Bilbo sat on the right of Frodo. Then there was Legolas another elf whom she suspected would be teaching her to use a bow. Beside him sat another elf he was talking with and a small stout man sat across from them. He was a dwarf known as Gimli, son of Gloin and he was too busy stuffing his face. Of course, Gandalf sat next Princess Arwen, daughter of Lord Elrond and was busy smoking his pipe. Scanning the rest of the table, she spied Boromir and instantly she clenched her jaw looking at him. She didn't know why she suddenly hated this man, but her memories of the book escaped her. She knew these people would come to be called the Fellowship of the Ring. However, scanning the table, she frowned. There was someone missing from the mass of people sitting at the huge dining table.

Seeming to read her mind, Lord Elrond, bent close to her ear and whispered, "Aragorn will not be dining with us, Selena." He then motioned for her to take a seat, opposite of his chair which he pulled out for her.

She smiled gently at him and eased herself into the chair and started to fill her plate, unaware of the eyes staring at her until Lord Elrond sent them a glare and continued their conversations.

"Hullo, my name is Frodo," came a quiet voice a few seats down the table. Selena looked up and smiled at the young hobbit.

"My name is Selena and it's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot about you," returned Selena, grabbing some of the salad, eagerly.

Frodo looked like he was going to ask another question when she turned her attention to Gandalf and Legolas's conversation.

"I need you to teach, Selena over there a few tricks of trade," whispered Gandalf unaware that Selena was listening.

"Gandalf, she is a human. To teach her something that only elves excel at would be to go against my kind," argued Legolas, stabbing at a leaf of lettuce.

"But, the girl needs to learn how to defend herself. Besides, that young girl is not what she seems. I need you to do this for me, Legolas. As a favour."

"Fine, I'll start tomorrow," offered Legolas.

"I'm sure she will be delighted. Isn't that right, Selena?" asked Gandalf turning his eyes on her.

Feeling like she had been caught with the cookie jar, Selena stumbled over her words and ended up just nodding before lowering her head to her plate, making the old wizard chuckle.

After some much '_unneeded' _desserts, Selena excused herself from the table, claiming she wasn't feeling well. While, that last bowl of fruit had been a bit excessive, she wanted some time to herself. As far as the Dumbledore-look alike knew, Selena was as good as stuck in Middle-Earth. Tears came to her eyes as she thought about what she had said to her parents before she had left. Swiping angrily at then with her hands, the young girl found herself staring at a small tree with white leaves. With the almost glow, the tree seemed to give her hope that things would turn out alright. Walking closer to it, she touched one of the petals, finding that it felt quite soft. Curiously, she gently tugged the leaf off the branch and watched as an image came into view herself kissing the silhouette of a man and embracing him. The image changed to show a wedding ring and changed once more to reveal herself back with happy family. Confused, as to what had happened, she flipped the leaf over but, nothing appeared.

"It's no use trying to figure it out, miss. That's a rare bit of magic for you, if you like. It shows ones deepest regrets and desires," replied a voice from behind her. Startled, she wheeled around to see Boromir watching her.

"Oh, hello Boromir,"greeted Selena, planting a fake smile on her face to hide the loathing she felt for the man in front of her. "Have a good day."

"No, no. Stay and lets have a little chat," insisted Boromir walking closer to the young witch.

"I'd rather not. I need to go to bed," informed Selena, backing away from Boromir.

"You know, it's funny how quickly a man can become seduced by a woman," said Boromir, thoughtfully.

"Yes, well we do have our feminine charm," laughed Selena, hoping she could buy herself time to get away.

Boromir didn't answer and latched onto her arm, pulling her roughly to his side. "So very pretty, for one so young and innocent like you."

"Let me go, _sir!" _pleaded Selena, trying to get away from the strong Gondor prince, but was unsuccessful in her attempts.

"How dare you speak to me that way," hissed Boromir only to be interrupted by another voice.

"Boromir, leave her alone!" shouted a tall, lean man wearing a grey-green cloak and looking angrily at his supposed friend.

"This isn't finished, girl," whispered Boromir pulling her harshly to his side and then threw her aside and left the room.

Tears threatened to cascade down her face while Selena shakily got to her feet, only to blink in surprise when she saw that her rescuer was the famous Ranger, Strider or as she would call him Aragorn. She met his eyes and a warm tingling feeling filled her body, only to be pushed away by Aragorn talking.

"Did he hurt you young lady?" inquired Aragorn as he looked at the young girl before him. She was very pretty for a woman and no he loved Arwen and yet….watching the young girl infront of him, he couldn't help but see her as a beautiful companion. Shaking his head, he turned to see the young girl crumble to the floor in tears.

Uncomfortable at seeing the young girl crying, Aragorn decided to try and wait it out. After a few minutes, he knelt beside her and started to rub calming circles into her back.

"Shh, it's alright. He's gone," soothed the young man as he tried to calm the young girl in front of him. After her tears quieted to hiccups, Aragorn helped the young witch to her feet and looked at her with some concern.

"Did he hurt you?" repeated Aragorn, forcefully. If Boromir had done more than what he had seen, he was going to get a punch in the face. Seeing the girl shake her head no, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Selena attempted to say something when Aragorn turned towards the stairs. Looking around the Ranger, Selena looked to see Arwen walking in their direction.

"I must speak with you," answered Arwen, ignoring the young girl. She had watched the pair and did not like what she had seen. Aragorn wanted to be with her, not some useless peasant that had nothing to offer a man of Aragorn's status.

Aragorn nodded his head in the affirmative and turned to bid good-bye to Selena, but the raven-haired girl was already running up the stairs towards her room in tears. No one saw Boromir looking pleased with himself and gaining a more happy stride as he walked back to the banquet hall.


	3. Threats and Training

Selena ran as fast as she could all the way to her room, slamming the door shut behind and collapsed onto her bed. She knew a threat when she saw one and Boromir was clearly not joking when he had made it. Then, she had gone and started making friends like she was there forever. 'Forever,' repeated her inner voice and again she thought of her unusual situation. What if Gandalf couldn't get home to her parents and she ended up staying in Middle-Earth. What would happen if she died…no she had to keep thinking positively about the situation.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to still her beating heart and prepared for bed, knowing she had a busy day ahead of her. As she prepared for bed, Selena thought about all that had happened to her. She had argued with her parents, landed in Middle-Earth, almost got eaten by orcs, met the elves, ran into the Fellowships and got threatened by Boromir. Looking out her window, she saw Lord Elrond talking to some of his men and Gandalf talking to one of the hobbits. Thinking of the old wizard, made the young witch's stomach clench painfully. She missed her parents, including the meddling old Headmaster that loved eating lemon drops. What if she never saw them again? No, Gandalf would find a way to get her home, she assured herself. Until then, she would have to make the best of the situation. With that thought in mind, she closed her eyes and dreamt of seeing her family again.

A few hours later, the young black-haired girl awoke to the sound of yelling coming from outside. Curious, she slipped into her transfigured outfit and shoved her wand into one of the inner pockets of her jacket. Running outside, right away Selena noticed there was a group of soldiers near the entrance to Rivendell. Weaving through the crowd, she spotted Gandalf, Elrond and the Captain of the Guard talking to each other. Looking around, Selena wandlessly cast a disillusion charm on herself and headed towards the group.

Keeping her breathing as silent as possible, she edged towards the group trying to listen as to what had happened. She wasn't disappointed when Gandalf turned to Lord Elrond.

"It's a bit early to be shouting orders to your men, isn't it?" asked the old wizard keeping his voice low.

"Perhaps, but then again you were never one for sleeping in," answered Lord Elrond, smirking at the grey-beaded wizard.

"That is petty rumour that some of your soldiers came up with," argued Gandalf, pretending to act hurt. "Anyways, what's going on?"

Seeing the quick change in subject, Lord Elrond smirked, but made no mention that he had saw it for what it was and said, "One of my scouts has been attacked by a group of orcs. He died this morning and I must dispatch a group of riders to get rid of the filthy pests. I also have sent messengers to some of our friends to discuss what is to be done about the 'thing'."

Lord Elrond then waved off the Captain and gestured for Gandalf to follow. Selena followed close of their heels, making sure to keep her footsteps as silent as possible. She was just about to head up the stairs when she tripped and barely caught herself before she fell on the corner of the third step.

The lack of concentration caused by the fall caused her charm to stop working. She looked up and froze when she saw a tall man wearing a cloak with a hood over their face. Cursing her luck, she tried to think of something to say when the man grabbed her, surprisingly gentle and pulled her up the stairs with him.

Dragging her towards the center of Rivendell, Selena took a chance to look at the architecture that looked rather unique. It ha arches of various sizes and a sense of nature to the buildings with vines growing along the sides of them. She stumbled a few times, only managing to stay up because of the grip on her arm. She was so preoccupied; she didn't see the man leading her towards the main structure of Rivendell.

Of course, she had been in the main building when Gandalf had taken her to Lord Elrond's study to talk, but she hadn't had time to admire its beauty. The whole building was covered in statues and paintings of horses and elves. Of course, vines cover the inside as well as the outside of the building. The walls were painted with a variety of reds and yellows, giving the building a Gryffindor like feel to the whole room. She was busy admiring a portrait of an elven horse that she ran directly into the door she was facing. Groaning and rubbing her nose, she looked back at the man who ignored her and opened the door.

As with the rest of the building, the room was decked out in a dark crimson red and various shades of gold. The room was a fair size and contained the usual four-poster bed, bathroom, living room and study. She would have continued to look around the room, were it not for a subtle cough from the cloaked figure.

She turned to look at him, almost fainting at the sigh of seeing the legendary Ranger, Aragorn looking at her, suspiciously.

She started to speak, but he caught her off with a question, "Who are you?"

"A simple commoner that has l-" she started, by Aragorn cut her off again.

"Do not think for one minute that I am buying the poor commoner disguise because I can assure you, I do not," informed Aragorn walking towards Selena. "Like you, I can avoid being seen if I wish, but to disappear entirely, that is a rare gift. I must therefore assume one of two things; you either have stolen a 'trinket' from one of my friends or you are Saruman."

'Saruman', the name called to Selena and she tried to grab a hold of the memory with no such luck. All that she could remember was he had been a great wizard and was now a dark wizard.

Shaking her head, she turned back to the conversation and calmly answered, "I am not a thief or this Saruman guy," she stopped only to send a silent plea that Gandalf would not kill her for telling Aragorn the truth. She was just about to when the door opened and the Dumbledore-look alike appeared.

"Ah, Miss Snape, I was just about to gather a search party together to come look for you, but I can see that you're safe. I hope Aragorn has kept you busy," Gandalf smiled at her, his eyes twinkling like that of her Headmaster back at Hogwarts.

Selena was about to reply when Aragorn turned to address the old man, "I am quite impressed with her. She's got quite a talent at disappearing without the aid of that 'trinket'."

"Yes, the girl is rather adept at making herself unseen when she wants to be. Suppose she takes after me a bit," chuckled Gandalf and turned to wink at Selena. "Now that I have you here, Aragorn I was wondering if you'd give Miss Snape some lessons in swordsmanship."

"In case you haven't noticed Gandalf, we are all rather busy preparing for this war. I don't have time to teach a defenceless, disobedient girl the fine art of fighting. Besides, women don't typically fight where I'm from," snapped Aragorn, only to mutter a 'sorry' at the hurt look he saw flash across Selena's face.

"I understand, Aragorn and I am not asking you to have her ready for battle, I only that you prepare her enough so she can defend herself as needed. As to be a defenceless and disobedient girl, I think you'll find she's quite capable of following the rules," replied Gandalf.

Aragorn ran a hand through his greasy black hair, reminding Selena of her father's own hair and nodded to the wizard, "I'll start her training this afternoon. If you'll excuse me Gandalf, I have a meeting with Lord Elrond."

"I left him in his study, Aragorn," instructed Gandalf as Aragorn bowed respectfully to Selena and left, his cloak billowing behind him making the girl laugh.

"Thank-you sir, your timing is impeccable. I would love to continue this conversation, but I must go look for Legolas. He's probably looking for me, ready to start training me," replied Selena, heading towards the open door.

"Yes well, I had a 'feeling' that something needed my attention in this area. Anyways, I just wanted to say that you might want to keep magical eavesdropping to a minimum," suggested Gandalf.

"Eavesdropping…how cou-," started Selena.

"As Aragorn pointing out, disappearing entirely is a rare gift, one not even I can do. However, being a wizard I have a sixth sense about magic, plus I saw you walking towards us. Then I lost sight of you and I figured you must be eavesdropping on our conversation," offered Gandalf and left without another word.

Selena breathed a sigh of relief and then left Aragorn's room in search of Legolas who had told her they would have a session this morning. Walking down the corridors, she looked around for the tall, blonde elf. She checked the main dining hall and the library where she talked to Bilbo for a bit about his book. She had left after promising the old hobbit that she would see again and decided to check out. She was just heading to the stables when someone grabbed her from behind. Selena tried to scream, but a second later a second hand covered her mouth.

She didn't need to see his face to know that Boromir had found her and was now holding her. She silently begged for Gandalf to find another 'feeling' and head over to the stables, but she knew there would be no saving her. Boromir turned her towards him, giving her a chance to look at him, his eyes held a dangerous glint in them.

"Ah, Miss Snape, I wasn't expecting you. How about we continue what we started before that nosy ranger came in?" inquired Boromir, dragging Selena towards the door leading away from the stables. Reaching the door, he turned so she had no choice, but to look at him and added, "If you so much as scream or alert one of the soldiers, I'll make sure you're life here is miserable. How about the death of that no-good ranger or maybe that pathetic hobbit…What's his name? Ah, yes Bilbo. Are we clear?"

Slowly he removed his hand, just enough so she could answer the question while keeping a firm grip on her arm.

"Yes, sir," muttered Selena, putting as much disgust into the '_sir_' as possible, only to receive a harsh slap across the face.

"I guess your parents never taught you to respect your elders," said Boromir looking at the fiery determination in the girl's eyes.

"Only when they deserve it," snapped Selena, earning another harsh slap across her face.

"Temper, temper, I can see we'll have to work on that. We can start today. Remember if you so much as say a peep to anyone. That ranger is as good as dead," ordered Boromir, giving Selena hard push towards the door. She stumbled, just managing to catch herself and slowly walked out of the stables.

As the pair walked to what could only be compared with a prisoner walking to their execution, she tried to clear her mind like her father had taught her. She wasn't perfect in the art of occlumency, but she was still very talented in them. Every now or then, they would pass soldiers and Selena would think about escaping, before squashing the idea down. Her face and arm hurt from when Boromir had hit her, but didn't mention it.

Just as they were heading towards one of the guest lodgings, someone stepped in front of her, making her bump into them and causing her to hiss in pain. Looking up, she saw she was staring into the kind face of Legolas.

"Miss Snape, I've been looking everywhere for you," replied Legolas looking down at the girl, noticing a nice bright red patch on her right cheek. "Are you alright?"

She's fine, elf. I caught getting into a fight with one of the younger elves and took it upon myself to stop it before it got out of hand," explained Boromir, coming to stand next to Selena.

"Thank-you, Boromir I'll take it from here. Come Selena, we're loosing valuable sunlight and I know Aragorn is also planning to train with you today as well," informed Legolas, walking towards Selena who stepped away from him.

"Maybe, you better let me handle it, elf. She after all can't be allowed to go without a punishment," replied Boromir.

"I'm sure the injuries sustained by Miss Snape's fight are enough of a deterrent for the girl. She'll be fine. Come, Miss Snape," commanded Legolas.

Selena nodded and walked away from Boromir who grabbed her already sore arm and whispered, "I hope you realize by now that I'm a man of my word. Tell **anyone** and you can forget about having any friends here. Enjoy your stay, Miss Snape." With that he realized her arm with stormed away.

The young witch breathed a sigh of relief as she followed Legolas towards one of the training fields he had set up for her. To be honest, he hadn't really spent all morning and had seen Boromir follow Miss Snape into one of the stables. He didn't follow them, but had simply kept a close eye on the pair as they headed towards the guest lodges. It didn't take much to figure out that he was leading her to his quarters.

Now that he was with her, Legolas could sense that she was holding something in and decided he would let Gandalf know. He shook his head knowing he had to prepare himself for what would be a long hour.

"Let's try it again, Miss Snape," said Legolas after watching the young girl's arm get slapped by the heavy bowstring of the recurve bow he had given her. He quickly slipped a stiff leather cuff on her left arm.

Selena huffed irritably and bent down to grab another arrow to place on the string. She was just drawing the arrow back when Legolas stopped her.

"Not with the thumb and finger," he said. "Let the arrow rest between the first and second

fingers on the string... like this."

He showed Selena how the nock-the notch at the butt end of the arrow-actually clipped to the string and held the arrow in place. Then he demonstrated how to let the string rest on the first joint of the first, second and third fingers, with the first finger above the nock point and the others below it. Finally, he showed her how to allow the string to slip loose so that the arrow was released.

"That's better," he said and, as the young witch brought the arrow back and then added, "Try to use your back muscles, not just your arms. Feel as if you're pushing your shoulder blades together..."

The girl tried it and the bow seemed to draw a little easier. She found she could hold it steadier than before. Selena fired again this time; she just missed the tree trunk she'd been aiming for.

"You need to practice," said Legolas.

An hour later and Legolas was examining the target the girl had been shooting at, and nodded.

"Not bad at all," he said. "Your shooting is definitely improving."

Selena couldn't help the smile that reached her eyes, hearing praise from the blonde elf mentor. She couldn't believe that was learning archery skills from the blonde elf and simply beamed up at him.

Legolas saw the expression and immediately added, "With more practice-a lot more practice-you might even achieve mediocrity."

Selena wasn't absolutely sure what mediocrity was, but she sensed it wasn't good and the grin faded.

Legolas dismissed the subject with a wave of his hand after seeing the girl's smile fall and said, "That's enough shooting for now. Let's go," he said and set off, striding back up to the main center of Rivendell.

Stopping in front of the main building, Legolas suggested she get changed and have a bathbefore heading to the dining hall for lunch. She had nodded, knowing her arms and back would be sore after the session with Aragorn. Bowing respectfully, she headed up to her room, had a nice relaxing shower and then changed her outfit. Getting out of the shower, she wrapped a small dressing around her bruising arm where Boromir had grabbed her, wandlessly placing a cooling charm on the cloth. Sighing, she left her room in search of the dining hall.

She found it a few minutes later and was just opening the door when she spotted Aragorn and Arwen walking towards the door as well.

She smiled at them briefly and opened the door for the couple, receiving thanks and a reminder of their training session from Aragorn. Following through, she walked towards the table, stopping when she spotted the tall figure of Boromir. He had a dangerous glint in his eyes and she gazed at the table. Scanning the room, her look turned to horror when she realized that the only spot left was beside the Gondor Prince.

She made to leave the room when a hand fell on her shoulder, causing the weary girl to jump and wheel around. She breathed a sigh of relief to see it was only Aragorn looking at her with concern.

"Are you not hungry, Miss Snape?" asked Aragorn, curiously.

"I was, but I suddenly lost my appetite," explained Selena, keeping her head down.

Aragorn looked at her for a moment suspiciously before he nodded and headed towards the door.

"So have I, so why don't we start our session a little earlier and turn in early?" suggested Aragorn, turning back to face her.

"Sounds great, sir," responded Selena and started to follow him out of the room when another voice called out them.

"Aragorn, a word please," called Legolas walking over to the pair.

Aragorn inclined his head towards the blonde elf and held the door open for Selena and Legolas, walking further ahead with the elf while Selena trudged slowly behind them.

"Aragorn, I think Boromir has been harassing Miss Snape," whispered Legolas, keeping a close eye on the girl behind them.

The tall ranger stopped to look at his friend and said, "What makes you think that?"

"I saw him follow her out of the stables and when I went over to them to collect her, I noticed a hand sized print on her face," replied the elf.

"So she had a hand print on her face, that doesn't mean that Boromir put it there," argued Aragorn, keeping his voice low.

"Yes, well I asked her about it and Boromir said she had gotten into a fight with some of the children. A believable lie, if it wasn't for the fact that most children are in school or at home working. Besides, look at the girl, Aragorn. She's doesn't look like the type that wants to pick a fight," pointed out Legolas.

"Yes, she's very respectful. I, too have seen the way Boromir has handled the girl. Just the other night I found him with her, holding her arm in a death grip. She didn't say anything, but she was definitely terrified," confirmed Aragorn. "However, that's still not enough proof that he is actually harassing the girl. He definitely needs to be watched carefully, but unless he actually hurts the girl badly we can't do anything. We can only assist the girl while we train her up,"

"I understand, Aragorn. I just wanted to let you know," answered Legolas bowing to Aragorn and then headed back towards the dining hall. Sighing, Aragorn turned to the girl and motioned for her to follow him to one of the combat rooms. Unlike most of the rooms, the combat rooms were padded and have mats on the floor. It contained a back room that held dummies and practice weapons.

Selena looked at the padded room critically; knowing those pads were only meant to cushion a fall, not completely soften the blow. She was just admiring one of the dummies, when she heard something from behind her. Wheeling around, she managed to catch the dull practice sword; the ranger had thrown at her.

"Impressive reflexes, for a girl," commented Aragorn walking towards her, studying her body language and then backed away, calling out, "Prepare you're self!"

Selena twirled the sword for a minute before settling it in preparation for an attack, handling it like she would her wand. She looked up to see if she was doing it correct, only to notice Aragorn wasn't there. A minute later, she heard something behind her and she whirled around to block the attack.He pulled away and tried again to attack, which Selena blocked easily.

A few minutes of this and then Aragorn stepped away from and replied, "You know what you're doing, and I'll give you that ... Excellent form... But how's your footwork? If I step here –"

Aragorn walked away to the right of Selena while she walked left, keeping her eyes on the ranger. They parried again, while Aragorn shift again to make her overreact, but Selena had learned patience. Blocking the memory, she did another few parries and thrusts, stopping briefly when she managed to 'hit' Aragorn in the chest.

"Good, good….don't get overconfident," called out Aragorn as the pair continued to exchange attacks. Aragorn was surprised at how well the girl had picked up on sword fighting. He noticed a weak spot, and quickly threw a few overhand strikes, before quickly sending a few underhanded parries. A second later, Selena lay on the mat, her sword throw a few metres away and Aragorn had his sword pointing at her chest.

Holding out his hand to her he gave her a serious look, adding, "You're good, but you must remember, it won't be me you're fighting, and it won't be with practice swords, either."

Selena nodded, accepting his hand only to remain holding his hand when she caught his gaze. She had to admit that she was starting to respect the ranger in front of her a lot more than she had originally.

The silence was broken by the appearance of Boromir standing in the doorway looking at the pair.

"Yes, Boromir?" inquired Aragorn walking to stand slightly in front of Selena.

"I was told that I am to bring Selena to see Gandalf and make sure she has something to eat," instructed Boromir, walking further into the room.

Aragorn eyed Boromir carefully, confirming that he and Legolas would definitely have to watch the young Gondorian over the next week.

"I'm sorry that he made you come all this way to inform us. I will of course see that she is fed and taken to see him," replied Aragorn.

Boromir seemed tempted to argue against it, but seeing that there really was no reason, the ranger couldn't take her, he back down.

"Of course, ranger," answered Boromir, bowing and swept from the room, internally seething at Aragorn's intervention.

Once Boromir was out of the room, Aragorn walked over to the door shutting it quietly and turned back to Selena. Seeing the pale look on her face, Aragorn pulled out a small dagger from his ranger's cloak and handed it to her.

"I suggest carrying this with you wherever you go. You never know when you might run into trouble. Now, you've done very well so I'll cut this lesson short so we can get some food into you and possibly some rest," keeping his face neutral, hiding the urge to smile at the girl.

"Yes, sir, but what about Gandalf?" asked Selena as she put her sword away and followed the man out of the combat room.

"I'll let him know that I sent you to the kitchen and then to bed. He's probably only interested in knowing how you did. I suggest another hot bath to help loosen your muscles. We'll have another session tomorrow night since there will be a meeting I must attend in the afternoon," ordered Aragorn. He was going to continue his trek to the kitchen with her when he paused and quickly added, "You may call me Strider or Aragorn if you'd like."

"Only if you call me Selena," replied the girl, smiling at the Ranger. He nodded his head and continued to lead the way. They got to the kitchen where they both had a few tea biscuits, some lembas bread (after a lot of complaining from Selena) and some elven tea.

Finished, they made small talk for a few minutes before Aragorn got up and mentioned that he should probably escort Selena to her room and then talk to Gandalf. Selena had said thanks and the pair walked towards one the girl's chambers. They walked together in silence until they had stopped in front of her door.

"I had fun, Aragorn. I look forward to tomorrow session. Good night," whispered Selena who quickly leaned closer and planted a quick kiss on the tough ranger's cheek. He startled, but quickly recovered, nodded and left the way they had come. He would probably never admit it, but he hoped he'd see more of that during the next few days.

**A/N: **So just to give all my readers an update, I have given myself a schedule as to when I work on which story. My goal is to work on Lies and Secrets of the 'Potters' next, followed by my latest story, One Last Patronus and then start the cycle again….a review would be nice, even if it's just a word…so..yeah.

Until next time, S.S.A


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